Summary and conclusions

Detailed mathematical models were developed, suitable for describing the attitude dynamics of vehicles that may be idealized as systems of interconnected rigid bodies with possible terminal flexible appendages. The resulting mathematical formulations apply to two kinds of system behavior: (1) generally arbitrary rigid-body rotations with the restriction that appendage base body deviations from some nominal constant spin rate are small, and (2) unrestrained rigid-body rotations with the restriction that appendage base motion deviations from a nominally zero angular rate are small. The second approach was then further restricted to the often very useful assumption that all system rotations are small, permitting a formal linearization with respect to hinge and reference body rotations.